Morgarath's Revenge
by CloakedDragonWing3721
Summary: Morgarath wanted Halt to work for him in The Early Years, so what better revenge than for Halt's apprentice to take his place? Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I was rereading Ranger's Apprentice Book 1 and I remembered how much I adore the series, especially the first arc. The Burning Bridge is my favorite book, especially with that masterful cliffhanger! Beautiful. I hate Royal Ranger. I love Maddie, and what happened, and the book itself, but Alyss should not be dead. And Will doesn't have any kids! Aargh. I'm in denial, and it's been two years. I'll probably write an AU for that eventually. Grr. Anyway, I got this idea from The Tournament at Gorlan. Remember how Morgarath wanted Halt to work for him? What's better than to… Well, spoilers! You'll just have to find out!

A Wargal yanked Will from the rock where he had been hiding with Evanlyn. Morgarath and Erak turned to the struggling boy, the dark lord looking angry. Another Wargal held Evanlyn by her arm. Desperately hoping that Evanlyn could survive, Will managed to elbow his Wargal in the neck, and when he was dropped, he ran at the brute holding Evanlyn captive and started attacking him. The Wargal's lapse of concentration caused him to drop Evanlyn, and Will yelled at her while ducking under the beast's punches. "Run! Get to Halt! RUN!"

Evanlyn paused, then started running, recognizing that there was nothing she could do to help Will. She was ignored as the Wargal's primitive consciousnesses saw Will as the much more immediate threat and tried to catch the small and wily boy. Evanlyn was gone in an instant.

The two Wargals managed to subdue Will a few seconds later, and Morgarath was clearly furious. He spun his horse to face Erak. "What," he hissed, "Is this?" Erak saw there was no use lying.

"These are the two who burned the bridge. We were planning on taking them as slaves, and didn't want to tell you because you wouldn't have let us keep them."

Morgarath's attention caught on a glint near the boy's collar. He dismounted and strode towards Will, his arm snaking out and grabbing Will's bronze oakleaf necklace. "This is a Ranger Apprentice. And he was telling the girl to go to Halt…" The renegade knight's eyes lit up with savage glee. "You're Halt's new apprentice, the one who killed one of my Kalkara! My spies have told me about you. Will, isn't it? Men! Ignore the girl! We have a much better prize. Escort him to the castle! If the boy escapes, I'll kill all of you! And kill the traitorous Skandians!"

-ooh. Notice Will is being taken to the castle, not the battlefield-

A horseman carried Evanlyn, no, Cassandra, to the tent that flew her father's standard. Cassandra had spent the last three days sneaking past oblivious Wargals until she had found a navigable goat trail. From there, she had kept traveling along the Mountains of Rain and Night until she came across a scout. He had been on high alert because word had spread that the princess was missing, and could be dead, after Gilan had come back with Horace.

The scout thundered into the King's pavilion and King Duncan looked up, worry lines creasing his face. "What is the meaning of thi- Cassandra?!" Cassandra jumped down and ran to her father, hugging him while tears ran down her face.

Halt had been beside the King, and as soon as he saw Cassandra he looked around, desperately hoping to see his young apprentice. When he couldn't find Will he felt a cold stone hand of foreboding close over his heart. He turned to his King and Princess. "Excuse me, your majesty, but… where is Will?"

Cassandra seemed to sob harder. "W-when we were captured by Skandians, they wanted to take us to Skandia instead of delivering us to Morgarath, so they told him we were dead and were trying to sneak us to their ship. Unfortunately some Wargals caught us, a-and Will fought the Wargals and yelled at me to run and find you, Halt. They had already grabbed him, so I had no choice but to run… I'm sorry!" The poor girl burst into tears all over again while her father rocked her. Halt didn't blame Princess Cassandra at all. As a matter of fact, he thought she was extremely brave.

"No, you did the right thing, if Morgarath had recognized you the results could have been disastrous. But… Is Will dead?" When the shaking Princess shook her head no, he let out a sigh of relief. He had no more time to ponder what horrors may be befalling the boy he thought of as his son as a bugle sounded.

The battle had begun.

-The battle will go basically the same way it did in the books-

Will had been dragged the opposite way Evanlyn had gone. The Wargals ruthlessly pulled the chains they had fastened to Will's thin wrists mercilessly, back handing him if they thought he was lagging. It took a long, hard four days to reach Morgarath's castle and by the end Will was almost relieved to see the tall, craggy spires of the Castle of Rain and Night.

Almost. Will was immediately taken to a high tower room that had cold stone floors and no furniture whatsoever. The chains attached to his wrists were fastened to a large D ring and Will was left huddled in a bare corner of the square tower room, gazing numbly out of one of the four barred windows.

Will could only hope that his mentor was coming for him.

-Halt's gonna go on a warpath.-

The battle had gone well, the Skandians had been defeated and the cavalry had executed the hammerblows perfectly. Morgarath had just called a truce, and Halt could tell from his evil smirk that he had one more card to play.

Morgarath's stark white horse halted, and the dark lord himself stepped down. "Hello King Duncan, Halt, Lords." The exiled lord managed to sound supremely unconcerned and condescending.

King Duncan cleared his throat. "Morgarath, while we believe you have forfeited your rights as a knight, I have decided to negotiate with you."

Morgarath smiled, looking smug. "Oh, I'm not negotiating. My troops are retreating at this very moment. I simply wanted to deliver a… Message to Halt." Halt gripped his bow tightly, looking like he wanted nothing more than to shoot Morgarath.

The black knight seemed to realize exactly how angry Halt was, and reveled in it. "I hope you said your goodbyes, Halt, because you're never seeing your whelp again." In an instant, Halt had an arrow pulled back and aimed at Morgarath's throat. The exiled baron looked beside himself with glee. "Oh, calm down. I haven't killed him… Yet. If you kill me, the Wargals have instructions to kill the boy." The Wargals had no such instructions, but Halt didn't know that.

The legendary ranger slowly eased the tension on his bow. "Let him go, Morgarath."

The Wargals were nearly back into the valley by now, but the King and his advisers' attention was squarely on the man in front of them. Morgarath looked triumphant. He had lost the war, but had his revenge. "Oh, I don't think so. Do you remember when I asked you to work for me, Halt? You refused and disrespected my offer. Your apprentice is highly talented, quite possibly more talented than you were at that age. Besides, my spies report that young Will was the one who killed my second Kalkara and burned my bridge. Who better to be my new assassin than the boy who ruined my war, the apprentice of my hated enemy? I'll enjoy breaking the boy."

By now, Halt was being held back by Crowley, with the Corps Commandant whispering in Halt's ear how if Halt killed Morgarath, Will would die. Halt looked downright murderous. "If you so much as touch Will, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Morgarath was sneering at Halt now. "You can't do anything! Actually, I will let you see the boy- when I send him to kill you!"

A/N: Them Cliffies...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Umm… yup. Here it is. Plz review!

Will was shivering in the corner when Morgarath strode into his cell. The young apprentice immediately jumped to his feet and fell into a defensive fighting stance. Morgarath stared at the boy for a moment, then laughed. "Come on."

Two Wargals grabbed the ends of Will's chains and dragged him, kicking and struggling, into a room at the top of another tower. This room was the same size and shape, but it was richly furnished, with rugs hiding the cold stone floor, a small bed in the corner, and a small table and chair in the center of the room. There was also a large D-ring hammered into the wall opposite the door, with an ankle chain that could reach everything but the door. All the furniture in the room was bolted to the floor. The room may have been lavish, but it was still a cell.

Will's ankle was clasped in the chain, and the Wargals unlocked his wrists and shoved the boy down in the small chair and retreated to guard the door. Morgarath circled Will, shoving him back down into his seat every time he tried to rise. Eventually the exiled lord stood across the table from Will and began to speak.

"I lost the war. Decades of planning and scheming wasted, and it's all your fault. You, and Halt. But I'm not going to kill you." Morgarath roughly grabbed Will's chin and pulled his face up so the evil man's cold eyes stared into the boy' brown eyes. "Oh, no. Let me tell you a story. Years ago, a handsome, noble baron was ruled by a weak King, who held him back, wasted his potential. The weak King had an even weaker son. One day the foolish King died. There was no way the stupid young Crown Prince would be able to adequately rule the kingdom, so the clever baron took advantage of the power vacuum and tried to take his rightful place as King. He had met a skilled Ranger, who he offered a place as his right hand man, but the Ranger sneered at the noble Baron and helped put the stupid Prince on the throne and drove the Baron into the hellish mountain range nearby."

Will could keep quiet no longer. "You're a traitor! Halt is one of the best men in the world!" Morgarath looked like an angry snake, hissing angrily through his teeth.

"Maybe I am evil. I don't care. But my point is, Halt refused my offer and turned around to help King Duncan take the throne! Now his protégé has ruined my war. I promised myself I would have revenge, and what better way to get it than to turn Halt's own apprentice against him?"

Will leaned back in his chair as Morgarath's words hit him. Morgarath was going to try to turn him… Evil? "I'll never betray my country."

The dark lord smiled and turned towards the door. "You don't have a choice. I will break you until you are completely servile and obey only me. Good night, boy. We will begin tomorrow."

-What is up with me? This is like Slade and Robin, but medieval.-

Halt, Crowley, King Duncan, Lady Pauline, and the King's advisers were sitting around a table, discussing their plan of action. Crowley started out. "I know it goes against protocol, but we have to rescue Ranger Will. In a practical sense, if we don't he'll be turned into a weapon. His mentor, Halt, reports that Will is one of the best Rangers he's ever seen, and is very far ahead of the normal training. In a personal sense, Will is Halt's apprentice, and that boy has done amazing things for this country. We owe him."

The other members of the table nodded. King Duncan looked at Lady Pauline. "Pauline, you're the expert at hostage negotiations. What do you suggest, my lady?"

Lady Pauline straightened. "I believe we should send a diplomatic envoy to attempt to negotiate with-" Halt cut her off.

"Sorry, Pauline, but that won't work. It'll simply alert Morgarath that we're trying to rescue Will, putting him in even more danger. Morgarath is set on revenge, and nothing short of the kingdom is worth more to him. At this point, he probably wouldn't accept me surrendering myself as an alternative to Will. I propose we assemble a strike force of three Rangers to scout and try to rescue Will."

Everyone nodded. Crowley leaned forward. "I want to go. I've dealt with Morgarath before, and so has Halt. But who should be the third Ranger?"

Halt stood up, ready to leave. "Gilan. He feels like this is his fault, and Gilan and Will are friends. Crowley, I'm going to go tell Gilan the plan, and we'll leave first thing tomorrow." Crowley nodded and both Rangers stalked out of the room, leaving everyone else feeling like they hadn't had any say in the matter.

-Ooh, Halt's on a warpath. Get the coffee.-

Will had been left in the room with two Wargal soldiers guarding the door on the outside. He had seized the chance to sleep in an actual bed, and now that it was morning he was fruitlessly trying to get the manacle off his ankle. He stopped when Morgarath walked into the room. No words were exchanged, the Wargals unlocked Will and then chained his wrists together.

Will was marched down a hall and a staircase until they came to a small courtyard. It contained targets, as well as a recurve bow and arrows. There was also a set of Ranger knives in the corner. Will was shoved inside, and Morgarath followed him. "You will be training here until I tell you to stop. There is no point in not training, and you will train, or you will be punished. Understood?"

Will looked longingly at the bow. He wanted to practice so badly… "Fine." Morgarath smiled and walked back out the door, locking it behind him. Will was left alone in the small courtyard. He stood there a moment, then picked up the recurve bow and began firing at the targets. The repetitive motions were soothing, and Will could almost imagine he was practicing behind Halt's cabin, until he focused on the feel of the cold paving stones under his bare feet.

Morgarath was standing in his throne room. There was a large window behind his throne that he could look down and observe the boy. As he was watching Will fire arrows with rapid precision, Morgarath's right hand man, Foldar, walked up beside him.

"With all due respect, my lord, why are you so interested in the boy? Why aren't you focused on training more troops for another war?" Morgarath turned towards Foldar and smiled unnervingly.

"Foldar, this is Halt's apprentice. The greatest opportunity I have ever gotten. Just imagine Halt's face when the boy, whom he obviously cares for, shows up years later on an assassination mission to kill Halt himself! It's perfect! Besides, the Wargals don't need much direction to train. I can focus my attention on the boy." Foldar nodded, and joined Morgarath in studying the young Ranger.

-Halt needs to hurry up!-

Hours later, Will had switched to knife throwing. He had just retrieved the knife from the target when the door was thrown open and two Wargals stomped in. In an instant, Will sent the throwing knife spinning into one Wargal's neck and had his saxe knife ready to ward off the other one. As the Wargal reached for him, Will jumped back and slashed the tendons in the beast's wrist, leaving him bellowing in agony. Will dodged around the guards and began running down the corridor.

He had barely made it ten steps when Wargals flooded the passageway, trapping Will. He fought his hardest, but was eventually overwhelmed, forced into chains, and taken to the bare cell he had originally been kept in. Morgarath strode in seconds later, accompanied by another man wearing a black cloak. Morgarath looked furious. "So, you decided to try to escape. Disappointing. Expected, but disappointing. I'll have to punish you now, then you'll be returned to your room."

A Wargal stomped inside of the bare cell. In his right hand was a long rod, with a red-hot M shape on the end. Panic hit Will as he realized what was going to happen. One Wargal pulled off Will's tattered shirt and held him down while the one with the branding iron approached him. Will stopped struggling and shut his eyes as he realized that there was no escape. The hot iron came down on Will's chest, right above his heart, and burned an unmistakable M.

It was pure agony, and Will couldn't stop screaming, no matter how hard he tried. Tears ran down his cheeks, and he writhed desperately until the Wargal finally let up, the Wargal that had been holding him let him drop in a gasping heap on the ground.

Morgarath stood over the sobbing boy, staring coldly down. "And from now on, you'll call me Master." He nodded to the two Wargals, who carried the nearly unconscious Ranger back to the lavish room, where he was locked back up and left lying on the floor. The monstrous soldiers wrapped a bandage over the wound, and left. Once they were gone, Will managed to drag himself onto the bed, which he collapsed on in agony.

Will stared towards one of the windows, out over the cold wastes of the Mountains of Rain and Night. "H-halt p-please h-help m-me. P-please."

-I'm sick. And yes, I got the Master thing from Slade. The Teen Titans fans among you will get that-

Crowley, Halt, and Gilan had ridden hard until they got back to Three Step Pass, getting ready for the hardest part of their journey. They would rest for the night, then start the long, arduous trek through the Mountains of Rain and Night.

Halt faced the foreboding mountains where his apprentice was being held. "Stay alive, Will. I'm coming for you."

A/N: Yaaaaay! Another chapter! There's three, so… almost done! There was one shoutout. I'm disappointed. Shoutout:

Guest: Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Will was awoken from his restless and pain filled sleep by a key turning in the heavy lock. He propped himself up on his elbow and faced the door as Morgarath, two Wargals, and a small, humpbacked man came in. Will moved to get up, but a Wargal roughly shoved him back down.

The elderly man hobbled up to Will and pulled his bandage off, not minding Will's gasp of pain when skin was pulled off as well. The man peered at the wound, then rubbed a poultice that stung against the boy's heated skin into the wound. The man, whom Will assumed was a healer finally turned to Morgarath. "It shouldn't get infected. I'll check back tomorrow, my lord."

The man scuttled out of the room. Morgarath strode to Will's bedside and unceremoniously pulled him out of bed. "Come on, boy."

The young Ranger suddenly felt angry. What right did this man have to order him around like a dog? Will raised his chin in defiance. "No."

Morgarath spun to face Will. "No?" He seethed, "No? You don't tell me no. You will address me as Master, and if I order something, you will do it."

Will's very soul rebelled at the idea of calling his captor Master. "I will never call you Master." Morgarath's eyes turned chillingly cold.

"Oh, I think you will."

-Oh dear.-

Hours later, Will was thrown back into his room. He had been whipped and beaten mercilessly by the cruel lord himself until he had finally given in.

Morgarath walked into Will's cell moments later. He loomed over the exhausted boy. "Now, what do you say? I did stop, after all."

Will shuddered. He closed his eyes tightly, then spoke three dreaded words. "T-thank you, M-master." Morgarath smirked, obviously pleased with himself.

"Good boy. Now, go to sleep. You have training tomorrow, after all." He looked expectantly at the Ranger lying at his feet.

"Y-yes Master."

-Whee. Can anyone imagine Halt's face when he finds out about this? I almost pity Morgarath.-

The next morning, Will wordlessly followed his Wargal guards to training. The knives had been replaced with wooden replicas after Will's earlier stunt, and the arrows were sharpened sticks. When Will had woken up, a new set of trousers and a shirt had been waiting for him, and there was also a simple, gray version of the Ranger cloak. It wasn't mottled, but the cloak had a deep hood that Will took great comfort in.

After practice, Will tried to run away from the guards, and was beaten as punishment. Once returned to his cell, he was given bread and water, and forced to thank Morgarath for it, calling him Master when prompted.

Over the next few days, a routine formed. Will slowly lost hope, but kept trying to escape. It was all he could do.

-Halt. 'Nuff said. Oh, wait, Crowley and Gil are here too. Oops. Almost forgot about them.-

Halt, Crowley, and Gilan finally made it to the bleak castle. The three Rangers silently stole across rooftops until they overheard two of the few humans in the castle talking about a Ranger boy being held in the Northeast Tower. The Rangers found the only room that could possibly be housing Will, and each stationed themselves on the window ledge outside the barred window. Just as they had gotten settled, the door slammed open, bouncing against the wall, and Halt's blood-soaked and bandaged apprentice was escorted into the room.

Will's eyes were downcast and he sat unmoving, his shoulders held in a way that told the Rangers that his back was injured. The boy offered no resistance as a heavy manacle was attached to his ankle and Morgarath strode in the door. The Wargals moved back to the door and Morgarath simply observed Will, as the young Ranger knelt in the center of the room.

Morgarath crouched and grasped Will's chin almost delicately, even as the object of his fascination flinched away from him. "I don't know why you struggle, boy. It's over. Halt isn't coming for you. Why would he save a disappointment like you from me?"

Will stilled and kept his gaze down. Morgarath slapped him sharply across the face. "Well, boy? What do you say?"

Will's voice was a whisper. "I don't know."

"You don't know…" When Will refused to respond to Morgarath's query, the dark lord rose and began kicking the boy with his steel-toed boots, eliciting short screams when he hit Will's damaged back.

"I don't know, Master!" Gilan and Crowley had been restraining Halt from trying to attack Morgarath, but all three Rangers froze when they heard what Will said. They exchanged horrified glances that clearly said, _Master?_.

Morgarath smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied. "Good boy." He turned and left, taking his Wargals and locking the door behind him. Will was left gasping on the floor, nursing a few fractured ribs. The Ranger apprentice hauled himself onto the bed and lay there, sobbing. After straining their ears, Halt, Crowley, and Gilan could clearly hear Will whispering to himself.

"H-help m-me, H-halt. P-please h-help m-me." Halt's mouth set in a grim line. He took a bottle of fast-working acid and applied it to the bars. Will heard the hissing and looked towards the window. "W-who's there?"

Halt's hand clung to the bars, pulling, trying to free Will faster. "It's me, Will. Halt. I'm here. So is Gilan and Crowley. We're going to get you out of here." Will gasped in surprise and limped to the window.

"Halt? It's really you?" Halt nodded, his heart twisting when he heard the desperation in his foster son's voice.

"Just a few more seconds, Will. Then we'll ride like hell to Castle Araluen, and we'll get you some medical attention."

Will suddenly looked ready to cry. "I-I'm sorry, Halt! He… He made me call him Master… I… I couldn't…" Halt made soft, reassuring shushing noises.

"It's all right, Will. I'm so proud of you. You were so brave, burning the bridge. Did you know that the girl, Evanlyn, was actually Princess Cassandra in disguise? You saved King Duncan's daughter. And you've been so very brave… I'm more proud of you than you can imagine."

The bars on Will's cell window finally snapped and Halt hoisted his apprentice up onto the window ledge by his forearms. Then he just held Will, rocking the boy back and forth while he sobbed. Halt gently cradled Will in one strong arm, while the other arm rappelled them down the wall using a rope Crowley had strung up.

Halt carried his apprentice to Abelard and set Will in front of him on the horse. Will leaned against Halt's chest, promptly succumbing to exhaustion and falling asleep. The three Rangers began riding back towards Three Step Pass. Will needed medical care, and fast.

-Yay! It's not over yet!-

The next morning, Morgarath walked into Will's room, flanked by two guards, and stopped short. He radiated rage, spying the discarded iron bars resting on the floor. It was the Rangers. No, it was Halt. This was all Halt's fault. The evil baron silently vowed to recapture Will. Next time, however, Morgarath would make sure to kill Halt.

-And hello, sequel idea!-

Halt, Will, Crowley, and Gilan thundered through the gates of Castle Araluen. Halt didn't stop, he just kept riding until he came to the infirmary door, where he jumped off Abelard with Will in his arms.

The healers inside the infirmary jumped as the door swung open. Halt laid Will, who was unconscious, on the bed and turned to the healers. "Help," he croaked, then collapsed heavily onto a chair beside the bed. The healers jumped into action, pulling off Will's shirt and calling for thread to sew up the lash marks, and herbs to keep Will from feeling anything.

Halt gasped in horror and anger when he saw the burn on Will's chest. One of the apprentice healers led Halt to another bed and told him to sleep, that there was nothing he could do for Will right now. Halt grumbled a bit, but he listened, falling into a deep sleep.

-Get ready for massive fluff-

Will slowly woke up, feeling as if he were drifting on a lake. He slowly opened his eyes, and was surprised to see that the ceiling above him wasn't the dark stone ceiling of his cell, but a tiled white one.

The Ranger apprentice then remembered Halt rescuing him, and he let out a sigh of relief. It was over. It was all over. Will propped himself up on his elbow, gritting his teeth at the pain in his back, and saw Halt asleep in a chair beside his bed. There were also a lot of cards and flowers on the bedside table. He noticed, with a small blush, that a vase full of elegant white flowers had a tag that said _Alyss_.

Just then, Will heard Halt start to wake up. He waited patiently until Halt was nearly awake, then whispered, "Halt?" Halt jolted awake, then looked at Will with unmistakable relief.

"Will? You're awake?" Will nodded shakily, then he started crying with relief. Halt got up and sat on the bed, pulling Will into a sitting position against his chest, and held him.

"Is it really over?" Halt nodded, smiling at his apprentice's relief. Will slowly started smiling too. "You came. I knew you would."

Halt felt love for the boy welling up in his chest. "Of course. I'll always be there when you need me." Will looked at Halt, biting his lip.

"Did you mean what you said… at Morgarath's castle?" Halt nodded, and Will relaxed. "Morgarath… he said you weren't coming, that you didn't care." Halt suddenly felt like he hated Morgarath more than anything in the world.

"Look at me, Will. I do care about you. You and Gilan, you're like the sons I never had." Will looked a bit surprised, but elated at Halt's confession.

"Halt? You're like a father to me, too." Halt smiled down at his apprentice.

"Go to sleep, Will. People will want to see you tomorrow." Will yawned and nodded.

"Okay. Good night, Halt."

"Good night, son."

-Was that too OOC?-

The next morning, Will woke up to Halt sitting at his bedside. Halt smiled to himself when he saw that Will was awake. "Morning, Will. I've got to make my report to the King, but Horace, Princess Cassandra… remember, she went by Evanlyn, and Alyss will be visiting you while I'm gone."

Will nodded. "So Evanlyn… is Princess Cassandra? Wow. I mean, Gilan and I suspected she was the noblewoman in disguise, instead of the maid, but… we didn't expect her to be the Princess. And Alyss is here?"

"Yes, Lady Alyss came here with Lady Pauline when they heard that you were… missing." Halt cleared his throat nervously and busied himself with gathering up some papers. Will tilted his head thoughtfully to the side.

"How did you know I was alive? I mean Evanlyn, sorry, Princess Cassandra didn't know if the Wargals had killed me." Halt shifted uncomfortably, then decided to try to evade the question.

"Well… Morgarath was…gloating a bit before he retreated… anyway, I think I hear your friends. I'll be back in an hour or two. Don't try getting out of bed." Will looked a bit sulky. That was exactly what he had been planning. Halt grinned, then walked to the door, quickly wiping any trace of a smile off his face. He did have a reputation to uphold, after all. Halt let Will's friends in, then strode to the throne room. He had much to discuss.

Halt walked into the throne room, and bowed in front of King Duncan. He noticed that Gilan and Crowley were already there, and the room had been emptied of the usual nobles. Lady Pauline was serving as the sole witness needed.

King Duncan nodded at Halt to proceed, and the grizzled Ranger cleared his throat and began talking. "Your Majesty, may I request that none of my report leaves this room?" King Duncan nodded his assent, and Halt continued. "Crowley, Gilan, and I rode to the Castle of Rain and Night, avoiding Wargal patrols as we went. We found Ranger Will's cell in the top of the Northeast tower, and waited for Will to be returned to the cell. A few moments later, Will was thrown inside and shackled to the wall by his ankle. Morgarath proceeded to-" and here Halt faltered, then gathered his resolve to finish his report.

"Morgarath proceeded to start beating Will, telling him that I wasn't going to rescue him, and forcing Will to call him Master." Lady Pauline couldn't stop a small gasp as she heard how Will had been treated. Halt took a breath, then continued. "We melted the bars on the window with acid, and carried Will down the tower. We rode to Castle Araluen, the closest castle that one of us was stationed at, and I delivered Will to the infirmary. The medical examination revealed that Ranger Will is covered in cuts and contusions, has been severely whipped several times, and has been… branded on his chest with Morgarath's seal. Despite what Will has gone through, he seems to be of good mental health and should make a full recovery."

Lady Pauline was nearly crying by now, and the Rangers and King Duncan looked aghast at what Will had suffered. Gilan shook his head slowly. "I didn't know it was that bad…" Crowley nodded his agreement. Halt nodded sharply, and turned towards the door.

"May I get back to my apprentice, Your Majesty?" King Duncan hurriedly nodded his assent, and Halt swept out of the room.

Crowley summed everyone's thoughts up with one word. "Whoa." Lady Pauline looked thoughtful.

"Does Will still want to be a Ranger?"

Gilan nodded. "Yes. On the way back, I overheard Will asking Halt if he was disappointed in him, and Halt immediately told him that he was proud of Will. Will asked if Halt still wanted him as an apprentice, and Halt reassured him that he would be glad to keep training Will."

King Duncan leaned back in his throne with a sigh. "That boy will make a fine Ranger one day." Crowley nodded in agreement.

"He already is one."

A/N: Yup. I HAVE FINISHED SAILING… until Flying Scot season starts! Basically, in two weeks. ;-P Shoutouts!

Pennydragon: Yes, you most certainly did hear Will whumpage! And Fatherly!Halt fluff… and fluff of every kind imaginable… and it's over! Until I start posting the next RA fic I have planned…

FMM: THANK YOU! And yes… I have another RA fic planned… I've already written three chapters… I may or may not start posting it today. NO PROMISES! I'm neglecting my two other in-progress fics, aren't I?


End file.
